On Friday 1 March 2019, eighteen Year 9 students visited Goldsmiths, part of the University of London, to graduate the Brilliant Club Scholar’s programme that they have been working towards since November. The students have worked with a Phd tutor, in small groups, for six weeks on a project based around “The Art of Essay Writing”, meeting once a week to cover topics that they wouldn’t usually encounter in school and have written an impressive 2,000 word essay as a result.During the trip, the students got to look around the university, write a speech and learn about university life. They also spoke with students from five other schools about their experiences and how they had helped them. One of the students, Dominic Agutter wrote ‘You do get challenges blocking your path, but you just have to find a different way round’. Finally, Jessica Forrester became a 'Spoke Scholar' and gave her speech in front of five other schools, and the students took part in a graduation ceremony to celebrate their achievement.

The students enjoyed the opportunity to experience a different kind of university to the one they had visited on the launch trip. We hope that it has inspired them to consider a variety of different options for their future studies.

Miss H Roberts